The Cleveland Browns’ offense hasn’t been able to get much going this season.
Young running back Quinshon Judkins is looking like a star in the making, but the passing game hasn’t found much success.
Plenty of that has had to do with subpar execution from the wide receivers and predictable play-calling.
However, Dillon Gabriel’s inability to push the ball down the field has also been a negative factor.
With that in mind, team analyst Lance Reisland urged the rookie out of Oregon to take a leap forward to help this offense:
“Pushing the ball down the field not only opens up explosive scoring opportunities but also forces safeties to back off, which creates more space for the run game and the short passing concepts. The ability to hit those deeper shots is often what separates a game manager from a true playmaker. If Gabriel can blend his accuracy and decision making with a willingness to attack vertically, he will raise both his production and the overall rhythm and pace of the offense,” Reisland wrote.
Gabriel has been far from perfect.
He hasn’t turned the ball over, but he’s made some reckless throws that could’ve been picked off.
Also, he has yet to find much success with his deep throws, and that has made this offense predictable and way too conservative.
Of course, doing much more than that on Sunday will be way easier said than done.
The New England Patriots are a very good defensive team, especially at home, and they will look to put a lot of pressure on the Browns’ quarterback, especially given their questionable situation at the left tackle position.
Given how strong the Patriots are against the run, their chances of finding much success with Quinshon Judkins don’t seem too great, either.
At the end of the day, this is a quarterback’s game, and as such, the Browns will need more from their signal-caller, especially if he wants to prove that he can be the man for the job.
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